From the CGA to the 124th U.S. Women's Amateur Championship

From South Africa to the 124th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship golf has taken Megan Streicher around the world. 

She grew up caddying for her parents before picking up a club of her own when she was 11. That sounds backwards, yes, but it provided Streicher with a different perspective from the game early on in her development. 

Sports are huge in South Africa, and Streicher was always encouraged to play as many as she could but golf became the one that stuck. 

“All the challenges were kind of what drew me in and I think I kind of just enjoyed how it was like you against yourself, or like you against the course and not really quite as intense as other sports can be against opponents,” Streicher said. 

In 2020, Streicher made her first trip to the United States to play in the Annika Invitational. She didn’t play well, but she caught the attention of UNC’s head women’s golf team coach, Aimee Neff, who at the time coached at Florida Atlantic. 

“She was really mature, always had a really good head on her shoulders,” Neff said. “We said that for recruiting, it was a great example of a person who held herself in a respectable, mature way, even when things were going away, kept fighting, didn’t give up, didn’t throw in the towel.”

Streicher became Neff’s first commit once she started working at UNC, but it was a tough decision.

“I mean, back home there isn’t really the opportunity to study and play golf at a high level, so I think it was definitely an easy decision in that sense,” Streicher said. “But definitely hard to leave my family, but they’re supporting me.”

In her two years at UNC so far, she has already left a mark. With the scoring average of 71.83 Streicher now holds the program record that hadn’t been eclipsed in over 50 years. 

She’s still working toward her first collegiate victory but Neff said she has an impressive consistency to shoot par or better. 

“She actually really enjoys stats and is like a student of the game,” Neff said. “She’s just a sponge and she wants to genuinely learn and is curious about just small ways that she can get a little bit better.”

Streicher did however reach the winner’s circle for the first time in the United States at the 98th Carolinas Women’s Amateur which earned her exemption into the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. Although she is from South Africa, Stricher is eligible for CGA events since she plays collegiately at UNC. 

She tried earning a spot earlier this summer at an 18-hole qualifier but was unsuccessful. With exemptions now offered through state amateurs, players now have other ways to make the fields of national championships. 

“For the USGA to support golf associations in this way, support the golfers, and provide a path that’s different than we ever have was a significant undertaking and a risk for the USGA,” Tyler Riggin, a USGA Regional Affairs Director, said. “But we truly believe in it and we know that we will end up improving our fields because of it.” 

Streicher’s excited for the challenge in front of her at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as she anticipates it being the strongest field that she’s ever competed in. 

She has two more years at UNC before contemplating going professional, but she has more goals to achieve as an amateur. Wanting to qualify for Augusta National Women’s Amateur is high on that list and was only amplified when UNC donors brought some members of the team down Magnolia Lane. 

“I definitely think the younger me would be proud of some of the scores that I’m shooting and results that I’ve achieved and just being here where I am today but definitely still a few things obviously that I’m wanting to do so, I’m excited for that.”

Her competitiveness will continue carrying her through this journey. Streicher’s drive to win isn’t just felt during a tournament, it’s seen everywhere. 

“The thing I love about Megs is like she doesn’t turn her off switch a lot,” Neff said. “Some people do a really good job of turning the switch on whenever they’re under the gun, but I think Megan does that consistently like each day at practice.”

 

About the Carolinas Golf Association (CGA)

The CGA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational organization founded in 1909 to promote and protect the game of golf in the Carolinas by providing competitions, education, support, and benefits to golf clubs and golfers. The CGA is one of the largest golf associations in the country, with over 700 member clubs represented by over 200,000 individuals.

The CGA annually conducts 48 championships and five team match competitions for men, women, juniors, and seniors. It also runs over 150 One-Day (net and gross) events and qualifying for USGA national championships. The CGA serves golf in the Carolinas with numerous programs such as: the USGA Handicap System; tournament management software and support; course measuring and course/slope ratings; agronomy consultation; answers about the Rules of Golf, Rules of Amateur Status, and Handicapping; Carolinas Golf Magazine; Interclub series; Tarheel Youth Golf Association; Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame; expense assistance for USGA Junior and Girls' Junior qualifiers from the Carolinas; and the Carolinas Golf Foundation (CGF). The CGF has distributed over $3,000,000 since 1977 to benefit Carolinas' golf initiatives, including junior, women and adaptive programs.

For more information about the Carolinas Golf Association, follow @cgagolf1909 on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok or visit our website www.carolinasgolf.org/

 

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